The Arrow and the Lamp: The Story of Hikari
by Salamon2
Summary: Based on a greek myth you should like it. R+R!


The Arrow and the Lamp: The Story of Hikari  
by Salamon2  
  
Salamon: So this is based on a Greek Myth?  
  
Salamon2: Yep! Don't Own digimon or the myth! The real title to the Myth is: The Arrow and the Lamp: The Story of Psyche  
  
Characters:  
  
Greek / Digimon  
  
Aphrodite / Jun  
Erros (Cupid) / Takeru  
Psyche / Hikari  
Zeus / Taichi  
Queen Persephone / Queen Nashia (*In digimon that's T.K.'s mom*)  
Three - Headed Dog / Three - Headed Salamon  
Hades / Daisuke  
Ares / Koushiro  
Demeter / Mimi  
Psyche's Sister / Miyako  
Heaphaestus / Jyou  
Posiden / Yammato  
Thetis / Sora  
Oracle / Oracle Iori   
Hermes / Ken  
Zues's Eagle / Aquillamon  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Once a king and a queen had two daughters. Both were beautiful, but the youngest, Hikari, was different. Her sister was content to know what she was told. Hikari always wanted to know more. She was so lovely that men called her the new Jun, a young goddess of Love and Beauty, but no man dared to marry a goddess. So while the older sister found a husband and went away to live in her own homes, Hikari stayed on alone with her father and mother even though she was thirteen and was now considered an adult.  
  
Now all might have been well if the brunet, sweet-smiling Jun had not heard of Hikari. The goddess came up out of the sea to find out whether men were really leaving her temples empty and silent and throwing flowers in the streets where Hikari walked. And when Jun saw this was true, she no longer smiled. She was furious, and she said to herself, ' This girl is mortal. Beautiful she may be, but like all mortals she will die, and until she dies, she must never have a happy day. I shall see to that!'  
  
Then she called her favorite child, Takeru, and he came flying to her. This young god, about the same age as Hikari, was as fair as his mother, but unlike his brunet mother he had brillent blonde hair, he had golden wings which he moved swiftly and unseen on his mysterious errands, he wore a golden robe, he also had angelic blue eyes, he often did mischief. He carried a golden bow and a quiver filled with arrows. His best friend in the world was a Patamon that never left Mount Olympous.  
  
" Go to this girl, this Hikari," said Jun. " Wound her with one of your arrows. Pour bitterness on her lips. Then find her the vilest husband in the world - mean bad tempered, ugly - and make her fal in love with him! Wait I know the perfect one! Daisuke!"  
  
" Mother, as much as I like michief I do not like the idea of Daisuke marring a. . . a. . . mere mortal. . . I mean he is my great uncle! And he is very Ugly just seeing his uglyness will undo the spell of my arrows. . ." said Takeru  
  
" SHUSH! Do not speak of your father's relatives like that!" shouted Jun knowing he was coming  
  
" You little brat you dare insulte my uncle! You may be my son but you shall not insult my uncle in that way! And you, you wench you were born of Sea foam! You are truely not a GODDESS!" shouted the God of War as he hovered over the two in a cloud form and then came down in his true form  
  
" Koushiro. . . leave the boy out of this. . . he is young. . . it is with me you want. . ." said Jun bowing down before her husband   
  
" Your inferiority has made me want to give mercy to you. . . then again NOT! Come with me Jun and you shall learn my wrath! Boy do what you and your mother have planned but do not make her fall in love with my Uncle!" he shouted to Takeru as he and Jun dissapeared  
  
Takeru flew off to his mother's garden in which were two springs of water, one sweet and the other bitter. Carrying water from both springs Takeru flew off invisible.  
  
Meanwhile while all of this was happening Daisuke was watching. . .  
  
' So she thinks she can get rid of her problems on me. . . well I'll make sure she won't! Jun prepare to be delt by Titans!' thought Daisuke as he walked up several stone stair cases until he came to the bottom of the ocean. There waiting for him was his brother Yammato God of the Ocean and his wife Sora a Sea Nymph.  
  
" You called brother?" asked Yammato  
  
" I want our Parents let lose on Jun and her menacing son Takeru!" shouted Daisuke  
  
" Leave the boy God alone he will not interfier with your work brother in law. . . He will fall in Love with the girl, or so the Fates say!" said Sora  
  
" Oh Alright But send the Krakken, Gosturus, Vampira, Wereano, the Minatour, the Sphinx, Ucornia, and Medusa on JUN!" shouted Daisuke as Yammato nooded and the gate lifted and the monsters were let loose on towards Jun who after the brutal beating with Koushiro was just ready enough to close up her clam and sleep it off when all of a sudden from out of the Sea surrounding her clam shell popped out the last of the Titans.  
  
" I guess you won't be needing a use for a white flag would you. . . cause I would!" shouted Jun  
  
Takeru meanwhile was doing his father's and mothers order and he found her asleep in the palace, her beauty moved him to pity, but obeying his mothers command, he poured bitter water on her lips and touched her side with one of his arrows. Hikari felt pain and opened her eyes. She could not see Takeru, but as he looked into her chesnut brown eyes, the arrow tremebled in his hand, and by chance he wounded himself. He poured a little of the sweet water on her forehead and flew away.  
  
Still no lovers came to ask for Hikari's hand in marriage, so the king and the queen, guessing that their daughter had somehow angered one of the gods, asked an oracle to looke into the future and tell them what could be done to find a husband for her. The oracle Iori answered with frightening words: " Dress your daughter for her funerall. She will never marry a mortal man but will be the bride of a creature with wings, feared, even by the gods. Take Hikari to the stony top of the mountain that looks down on your city, and leave her there alone to meet her fate. . .  
  
When they heard this prophecy, all the people wept with Hikari's parents. But Hikari said, " Tears will not help me. I was doomed from the moment you called me the new Jun. It must be Jun herself whom I have angered. Obey the oracle before the goddess punishes all of you. I alone must bear her anger."  
  
Hikari led the way to the mountaintop and said good-bye to her weeping parents and the crowd of folk who had sadly followed her. When all were gone, she sat down, trembling and afraid, to wait. But no monster husband came. Instead the warm west wind began to blow and, raising her gently in the air, carried her down the far side of the mountain to a green and flowering meadow in a hidden valley.  
  
Hikari fell peacefully asleep in the soft grass. When she woke, she saw a grove of tall trees watered by a clear strem. In the grove stood a marvelous palace, its golden pillars topped with a roof of carved sandalwood and ivory.  
  
She entered through the open doorway, wandering at the light that flashed from silver walls. Surely only a god could have made such a palace! Hikari passed from room to room, walking on flors made of precious stone, such as rubys, emeralds, saphires, and dimonds. She walked until she came to a marble pool filled wih scented water.  
  
Then a voice spoke to her: " My Lady, all of this is yours. Ask for whatever you like." Unseen hands led her to the bath and afterward clothered her in arobe of fine pink silk. A table appeared, spread with delicious food, servants waited on her and the air was filled with the sound of sweet voices singing.  
  
When darkness fell, Hikari found a bed ready for her and lay down to rest. But in the night she woke, feeling the presence of someone standing beside her bed, and she was full of fear. then a voice said, " Do not be afraid, Hikari. I am the husband you have been waiting for. Trust me. No harm will come to you. Only do not try to see me." hikari's husband stayed with her all night long, but before dayllight he was gone.  
  
For some months hikari lived in the palace, surrounded by beauty and comfort. The unseen servants answered all her wishes, and when her unseen husband came at night he was always kind. She began to long for the sound of his voice and very soon fell deeply in love with him. Still, the days seemed empty and she often felt lonely.  
  
One night her husband said to her, " Hikari your sister is looking for you. If you hear her calling do not answer."  
  
Hikari promised to obey but she wished more and more to see a face. The clear waters of the pool reflected only her own face, and the palace now seemed like a prison. At last her husband found her weeping and, taking her in his arms, said, " Well, my love, have yourwish, even if it brings trouble. The west wind shall carry your sister here." And Hikari thanked him with grateful kisses.  
  
The next day she heard her sister calling to her from the mountaintop, and she called back to her. Then the west wind carried them down into the valley, and when she found Hikari safe and well, they embraced joyfully. But her sister's joy turned to jealousy as she showed them her palace and Miyako saw how she was dressed and waited on like a queen.   
  
When Hikari confeesed that she had never seen her husband, Miyako spoiled her happieness by planting suspicions in her mind: "If your husband will not let you see him, he must be the monster that the oracle Iori said you would marry. He is only biding his time until he is ready to kill you. Take my advice. The next time he comes, have a lamp and a sharp knife hidden at your side. When he is asleep, light the lamp and look at him. If he is a monster, kill him while there is yet time. If he is a man or god, consider yourself the luckiest woman alive."  
  
The west wind carried Miyako away as safely as she had came, but Hikari was tormented by what she had said. At last she filled a little lamp with oil and found a sharp knife, both of wich she hid beside her bed.  
  
That night, when her husband was asleep, she lit the lamp and saw him-not a monster, but the most beautiful of beings, a fair and graceful youth with golden wings and a golden robe, he had blonde hair and she also noticed that he was smiling even in his sleep. Hikari was moved by a deeper love than she had ever felt. She bent over her husband to give his lips a wonderful graicious kiss, but from the lamp a drop of oil, burning hot, fell on his shoulder. Stung by the pain, he opened his eyes and looked t her sternly. " Foolish Hikari!" he said, " I knew how it would be. You could not trust me. You had to see for yourself. Now you will lose everything that I could give you, and I must lose you." Too late she knew who he was: Takeru, the son of Jun. There was a flash of golden wings and he was gone. The palace too was gone, and Hikari found herself alone again on the mountaintop. She wept and wept and then the God of Travlers, Ken flew by and asked " Maiden why do you weep?"  
  
" My husband Takeru, the God of Love has left me. . . *sobs* I have betrayed him but my heart will not go on. . .*sobs* I wish I could find him again and find out for myself if he still loves me. . .*sobs*" said Hikari to the God between weeps.  
  
" AH! I know of one place that he might be!" said Ken  
  
" WHERE?" questioned Hikari   
  
" A faraway river that flows from a high waterfall. At the edge of the river you shall a temple for Jun, there is where you will find him. . ." said Ken hoping that she would know where.  
  
" Thank You!" praised Hikari  
  
" Farewell and good luck on your journey, I hope you shall find him!" said Ken as he flew off  
  
Meanwhile Jun had narrowly escaped the Titans with the help of Jyou, the god of Metalworking. He had helped her escape after killing most of the Titans. Jun was in his arms as she slept and as the clam floated towards Jyou's Volcano near Olympous.   
  
Hikari was determined to find her lost husband, but although she walked all the roads of the world, she could not discover where he was. he had flown to one of his mother's many palaces, sick at heart and feverish with the burning pain of the oil from Hikari's lamp. Jun was angrier than she had ever been. She went to her son which had gone to one of her temples. " You are meant to make mortals fall inlove, not to fall in love yourself," she said. " However you will soon be well and will forget all about that girl." She locked him into a chamber, and there he lay recovering from his wound, and thinking nothing but Hikari.  
  
As Hikari searched for Takeru, she came at last to the place Ken had described. In the doorway of the temple stood Jun. She knelt at the feet of the goddess and begged Jun to tell her where she could find Takeru. But Jun, jealous of her beauty, ansewered with a false smile, " I will give you Takeru back to you if you will do something for me." And when Hikari eagerly agreed, the goddess led her into the tmple and showed her a room filled with a great heap of greains: corn and barley, poppy seed, lentils, and beans, all mixed togther. "Anyone as ugly as you is fit only to work," Jun sadi scornfully. " Sort all of these grains into separate piles, and have it done by evening."  
  
When the goddess had left her, Hikari sat down and began to cry. The task was impossible. But as she sat there weeping, she saw a procession of little ants coming out of the earth and running to her rescue. They attacked the heap of grains adn carried each kind to a separate pile, never stopping until the work was done. Then they vansihed into the earth.  
  
Meanwhile Mimi the goddess of Nature, Home, and Hearth had the ants go back to what they were doing before hand, and the goddess smilied down apon the girl Hikari. Then from behind her stepped the King of the Gods Taichi. He masashed her shoulders. "Mimi you now the girl shall not have any help. . ." said Taichi   
  
" The thing is Taichi, darling, she looked so helpless. . . I mean it wouldn't hurt if we just helped? " asked Mimi enjoying the masash  
  
Taichi kissed her pationately then said " I guess maybe it won't. . ."   
  
When Jun returned in the evening, she found Hikari sitting with folded hands. All the work was finished. " You do not deceive me, wretched girl," cried the goddess. " Someone has helped you. Tommorrow you must work alone, but your task is easy. Across the river is a field where golden sheep are grazing. Bring me a strand of their fleece."  
  
At cawn Hikari went to the river and stepped into the water. But as she did so, she heard the wispering of the reeds that grew along the shore: " Hikari, the sheep are wild rams, as fierce as the sun's rays. Tehy will batter you with their stony foreheads ndpierde you with their sharp horns."  
  
Hikari was ready to sink down into the river, despairing. But the rees whispered, " Donot give up. Be patient. Things wil change. Wait until the sun sinks. Then the rams sleep, and you can easily gather a strand of their golen fleece from the bushes along the edge of the field." Hikari obeyed, and in the evening gave the shining fleece to Jun.  
  
The goddess was enraged. Whe could not bear to find Hikari still alive. "Tomorrow you must work again," she said. She gave Hikari a crystal jar and pointed to the waterfall," she ordered. She thought to herself, 'The girl will never return. It is a just punishment for srealing my son's love.'  
  
Hikari made her way to the foot of the mountain and climbed the steep and rugged path-up, up, on and on, fearing every moment that she would fall and be dashed to pieces. At last she reached the topmost crag, a rough and slippery rock, ans saw that the torrent of water poured out of a cavern guarded by dragons with unwinking eyes. Hikair heard teh water roaring, " Beware!" and stood as if turned to stone by fear. Then form high in the air above her, there flew down an Aquillamon, the messenger of Zues, king of the gods. The Aquillamon took the crystal jar in its claws and swooped past the dragons. It hovered at the top of the warefall until the jar was filled to the brim, the brought it back to Hikari.  
  
That night Jun could hardly believe her eyes when she saw Hikari alive and well, bearing the jar of water in her hands. " I obeyed your commands," said Hikari. " I beg you to give me my husband."  
  
"I have only one more task for you," said Jun with a bitter smile. "IF you accomplish this, Takeru shall be yours forever. Go to the world of the dead and ask Queen Nashia to fill this box with some of her beauty." 'For,' Jun thought to herself ' no mortal comes back from the underworld. . .'  
  
Hikari took the box. She knew now that Jun wished nothing less than her death, and she climbed a high tower, ready to leap to the ground and so be taken at once to the land of the dead, never to return. But as she looked out from the top of thewindy tower, a voice echoed from its walls: "Hikari, do not lose hope. There isa way to accomplish the last of your labors. Near at hand you will find a cave. A path leads through it to the river Styx. Carry two coins to pay the ferrymn who will row you accross the river to the underworld and back again. A three-headed Salamon guards the palace of Daisuke. Take two chocolate cakes for the Salamon. Give her one when you enter, and the other when you leave. . ." and with that the voice stopped, and Hikari climbed down the tower the box in hand.  
  
Hikari found the cave and followed the dark path that led throught it into the seceret places of the earth. When she came to the river Styx, the ferryman being a skeleton held out his hand for the coin, and Hikari placed it in his hand and it curled up and she got in and the ferryman took her across. When the fierce three-headed Salamon of Daisuke charged at her, she silenced her with a chocolate cake and went on to the jeweled place of Daisuke. there outside was Queen Nashia and Daisuke himself.  
  
" Oh god Daisuke forgive me for entering your world but I must for you see my husband is bieng held captive by his mother Jun. She has asked me to do tedious tasks which I have completed. All she asked for was some of Queen Nashia's Beauty. . ." she said bowing before the two  
  
" Get up child for my wife will giveyou what you need. I also shall give you my Salamon. The next time you give her the chocolate cake she shall become normal again and be your friend for life" said Daisuke  
  
" Oh thank you!" shouted Hikari  
  
Queen Nashia then looked into the girl's eyes and Hikari saw that gentle face, she knew why even Jun wanted to have some of its beauty. The goddess took the box and put something into it, saying in a voice both soft and kind, " Do not open this, my child. It is not for you."  
  
Gratefully, Hikari took the box and thanked both the god and goddess and ran from the palace. She gave her last cake to the Salamon, and it took one bite and poof. There stood a small, cute, one-headed Salamon that came up to Hikari and jumped into her arms.  
  
" Your so nice, to a good for nothing Salamon like me. . ." said the Salamon  
  
" Your not a good for nothing Salamon. . . Your a beautiful creature. . ." said Hikari  
  
" Thank you. . . can I be your friend?. . ." asked the Salamon  
  
" Sure. . ." said Hikari gratefully and they walked back to the river Styx, and paid the ferryman and the two traveled out of the cave and then stepped out under the open sky. Then something came into her mind ' My husband once siad that I was beautiful. he may no longer think so, after all my labors. Perhaps I should keep a little of Nashia's beauty for myself.' She opened the box. " Hikari what are you doing you know you shouldn't look at what's in the box! Hikari!" shouted the Salamon as her friend fell to the ground in a deep sleep as if dead from looking at the box.  
  
But even from afar, Takeru saw her. he had recovered from his pain, and his love for her had never diminished. in fact it was so strong that he burst open the locked door of his chamber and flew to her, tenderly wiping away tears from the Salamon's eyes, and he closed the box and undid the spell. He then gave the box to her, then with Hikari in his arms and the Salamon in hers they flew upward and onward towards the top of Mount Olympous. Then shone a heavenly radience and Hikari saw at the center of this radience was Taichi. He called all the gods to Mount Olympous ad together he spoke to them: "See this mortal girl whom Takeru loevs. no mortal can have Nashia's beauty, but Hikari has brought some of that beauty to us. So give her food and drink of gods, and let her be one of us, never to die, and never to be seperated from her love again.  
  
Zeus's hands glowed with power and so did all the other gods' and goddess' hands all exsept Jun's. She walked up to her son whose hands were glowing most brilliantly and asked him " Do you truely love her my son?" she asked and Takeru starred into his mother's eyes and then said " Yes mother, I truely love her. . ." while this was all happeneing Hikari's Salamon met Takeru's Patamon. Finally even Jun said " Then it should be. . ." and her hands glowed and all of the glows shone onto Hikari and from her shoulders came wings like a butterfly. The glow diminished and Hikari ran into the arms of her love and he swung her around in a close hug while they french kissed, and the Patamon looked at the Salamon and they laughed and all was perfect. Mimi noticing the beauty in Hikari's wings decied to have a caterpillar transform into an insect that had wings like these. And she called them butterflies. Hikari was the goddess of summer and she lived happily ever after with her Takeru. The butterflies down here on the ground are now and forever a reminder of Hikari and her love for Takeru. . .  
  
THE END  
  
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Salamon: Wonderful! Did you add or subtract anything from this myth?  
  
Salamon2: Yes I did, in the myth the three-headed dog stays a three-headed dog, Hades is not in the myth as well as Hermes, Ares, Posiden, Thetis, Heaphestus. Aphrodite doesn't face the Titans, and in the myth Cupid is wearing nothing. In the myth Cupid doesn't have a Mount Olympous bound friend, and Pyche has two sisters.  
  
Salamon 0_0. I liked the part where me and Patamon laughed!  
  
Salamon2: You Would! 


End file.
